June 5, 2011 |
FROM THE VOLT (SUMMER 2010)
BORN: September 10, 1933; Hamberg, Germany
NATIONALITY: German
LABELS: Karl Lagerfeld and Fendi. Head designer and creative director for Chanel.
MISC: Through the 1970s, Lagerfeld worked as a costume designer for theatrical productions. Lagerfeld is also a photographer, taking pictures for many fashion publications, as well as the advertising for the brands under his direction.
One of the great enigmas of international fashion is how a designer of a mega imagination that enables him to create endless variations on a theme without ever looking back, insists on wearing what is a uniform that varies hardly at all. But that is what makes Karl Lagerfeld so interesting as a man and a designer.
A total media darling, he gives memorable interviews in God knows how many different tongues, has the confidence to tell it as it is and is perfectly prepared to be politically incorrect, even downright unkind, when commenting on his fellow designers. And yet, this most various of men, with a protean appetite for work and an insatiable desire to do everything and experience all things new, constantly springing surprises on us, dresses himself in what is virtually a uniform. Is it because he comes from a military nation or is it because, beneath all the grandeur, he believes that the clothes are more important than the designer as individual?
I doubt it with this most individual of men, who enjoys fame so much that he is rarely missing from a star-studded event on either side of the Atlantic. Whatever it is, Lagerfeld has constantly shown his supreme talents by re-inventing Chanel a million times over – and always to the greatest applause.
The Lagerfeld woman is soignée, sophisticated, totally international and at ease anywhere in the world. She is usually exceedingly rich and transcends the boundaries of age…
WHAT WERE YOU DOING 10 YEARS AGO?
“That was another person’s life in another century… ”
HOW HAS YOUR APPROACH TO FASHION CHANGED OVER THE PAST 10 YEARS?
“I never look back but fashion is all about change.”
IN WHAT WAYS ARE PERSONAL APPEARANCE AND LIFESTYLE IMPORTANT TO YOU?
“We work in a world of surfaces, so that the outside is as important as the inside. I am a superficial person but I must say I like my life the way it is.”
TEN IS CONSIDERED A TALISMANIC NUMBER. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU?
“The importance of 0.”
FASHION IS CHANGING RAPIDLY. HOW WILL IT AFFECT YOU IN HOW YOU PRESENT YOUR CLOTHES IN ORDER TO REACH THE MAXIMUM AUDIENCE – AND HOW WILL THAT AUDIENCE DIFFER FROM THE TRADITIONAL AUDIENCE?
“The web. I am all for more accessible fashion. This is why we do such high-profile shows – it has to be as real as a kind of movie on the internet. I love cyber magazines as much as books.”
WHEN YOU WERE YOUNG – SAY, 10 OR A TEENAGER – WHAT WERE YOUR AMBITIONS?
“To get away from where I was.”
OUTSIDE OF FASHION, WHAT ARE THE THINGS THAT MAKE YOU HAPPY OR SAD?
“I’ve forgotten.”
WHAT ARE THE TRUE INSPIRATIONS FOR YOU – IN YOUR LIFE AND IN YOUR DESIGNING?
“The next thing.”
IF YOU COULD SPEND 10 DAYS TOTALLY AWAY FROM FASHION AND YOUR PRESENT LIFE HOW WOULD YOU SPEND THEM?
“This is my life… ”
IN 10 YEARS’ TIME WHAT SORT OF LIFE DO YOU EXPECT TO BE LIVING?
“Exactly the same as now but even better – I love my life the way it is.”
by Colin McDowell
Photograph by Karl Lagerfeld
